The Montreal Canadiens made a minor-league trade today, acquiring Keegan Lowe from the Carolina Hurricanes in return for Philip Samuelsson.
The Canadiens acquire defenseman Keegan Lowe from Carolina, in return for Philip Samuelsson. Lowe will join the IceCaps in St. John’s.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 21, 2017
Samuelsson was signed this off-season and was expected to be a veteran to replace players like Morgan Ellis and Darren Dietz, but was never fully trusted by St. John’s IceCaps head coach Sylvain Lefebvre.
Samuelsson played 40 games for the IceCaps, and has one goal and four assists on the season.
Lowe has played 49 games for the Hurricanes AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, with three goals and nine assists.
He will be reporting to St. John’s and I would think the expectation here is that Lowe will be able to help the IceCaps push towards the playoffs. He is also 23 years old compared to Samuelsson being 25 so there may be some more upside down the road.
He also has two NHL games in the 2014-15 season. He is in his fourth AHL season and is approaching a career high in points and goals.
Philip’s dad, Ulf, is the head coach in Charlotte and is a former NHL player. Keegan’s father is former Edmonton Oiler Kevin Lowe.
